? PS2 ENGINE NOT FOUND BUT IT RUNS??

Ray,

Check the DCS signal strength where the engine was sitting before you started it up.

Barry,

Here's the low down. 

Thursday nite, ran the trains, no issues everything worked just fine.

Friday afternoon, fire up the layout, and all the problems started. Shut everything down and posted on the Forum.

This morning, Sat, read your post, fired up the layout and got the same issues.

Did a signal strength test, got 3, 4 and 5.

Last month I did a signal strength at various parts of my layout (it's only 8 by 12), got reading of 7 and above all the time. I even checked the signal strength a second time last month, same reading, 7 and above.

The layout is in an enclosed room in the garage and I'm the only one to access it.

I have not done any changes or modification to the layout at all.

Does this help you to help me?

RAY

Ray,  Clean the track and the engine wheels.  That can be part of your issues.  Also check for any loose wiring connections.   G

GGG and Barry:

Just came back in and now I get 7, 8 and 9's on all my track. Did not clean it or the wheels.

HOWEVER: When I place my MTH 2-8-2 on the tracks (George it's the one that you fixed for me last month) everything drops to 3 and 4's. The 2-8-2 does not respond at all. 

When the 2-8-2 is off the layout, everything responds and works. As soon as the 2-8-2 is on the tracks, everything goes to pot.

Do I now have a bad board that could be causing the issue? Is there a simple way for me to check this out?

The 2-8-2 had been working just fine every since I got it back from you, George. It worked fine on Thursday nite, but I could not bring it up on Friday.

I've spent way to much $ on this engine already and am beginning to get buyer remorse. I just can't afford to put any more money into this engine.

Help and suggestions much appreciated from you or others.

RAY

Take a look on the bottom of the tiu... what version is it? Some (not all) I3As had signal generator problems.   I think your track signal should be almost  a perfect 10.

 As G suggested.. any loose connections can really mess up the signal.

 It takes a better dcs signal to operate 2 engines than one... How many are you running  on the loop at the same time.....Any TMCC engines?

Ray,  That is a PS-2 5V board so I guess it is possible if the board is going bad.  Does it work in conventional without TIU powered?  Are the wheels and pickup rollers of this engine clean?  G

When PS-2 5V have faint clicking, but can not be founds, there usually is a hardware fault on the board.  But there are a few other test first.

Did you try it in conventional on your test track with no TIU?  Does the engine start up? Can you measure the current being drawn by the engine when you apply power?   If it doesn't start up in conventional, the potential is a hardware fault.

If it does start up, do a feature reset with 1W and 5B in sequence.  Than shut down, reconnect the TIU and try it again, if you still can't get a response.  Do a "Recover Engine" from the advance System menu.  DCS will try to find the engine if the address has gone out of the normal range.  Try recover engine at least 3 times if it doesn't find it.  If it does find it do a factory reset and than take back to your layout and try it.   G

George,

Do a "Recover Engine" from the advance menu. 

That's actually the SYSTEM menu: Menu/System/Engine Setup/Recover Engine

did you put a brand new battery in the engine ?

Good catch Barry:-) G

Thanks for all the replies.

A new battery was installed before I did all the tests.

I did try to wake it up with a CW80, nothing happened.

I did not clean out my remotes memory. I don't think that will do anything since I keep getting "NO ENGINE TO ADD" and since the CW80 can not wake it up.

SO?????

Do I just bite the bullet, replace the control boards, and have second thoughts about MTH engines in the future?

I have put $580 into this engine already, a used engine at that, that originally listed for $700 in 2001.

RAY

CW80 is not the best transformer to test with, but if it didn't start up that can be a board issue.  The issue is not that it was MTH, rather the MTH PS-2 5V board.  That is the older board from 2000-2004 and it could be finicky.  The PS-2 3V is a more robust 2 piece board that can be repaired at the component level.   Did you try the recover engine?   G

I did not clean out my remotes memory. I don't think that will do anything since I keep getting "NO ENGINE TO ADD" and since the CW80 can not wake it up.

Yeah it should start up in conventional   or at least the lights come on  however since you already have $580 invested in the thing a remote reset might be worth a shot . The purpose is to clear out any ID conflicts in including lash-ups .  I  would also  try the recover engine feature.  Another option might be try6ing a different  channel such as  l Fixed 2. anyway good luck